Nice surprise
I bought this book because, well, because I misread one word in the blurb. "Seven Dragoons" somehow became "Seven Dragons" in my mind. Don't ask! Actually you may ask - I really love dragons. So the book turned out to be not quite what I expected it to be, but still very good. I mean, of course I expected to find gay romantic storyline, but I also expected a fantasy and instead I found historical fantasy, and I will only call it fantasy, because acceptance of same sex relationship is not very true to time depicted in the story :). There is no magic of any kind, the disease which changed Hynd's appearance so much is called by the fictitious name but I can think of several epidemics which hurt and killed many people in the Middle Ages, so I assume that was the inspiration.
And yes, world-building is very vague whether on purpose or not, I am not sure. The characters however are fascinating - Hynd may have been forever scarred in appearance after suffering from Plight (name of the disease), but despite all he had been through he managed to concentrate on his goal of researching what happened to "Seventh dragoons" and does an admirable job. He does not easily trust people, but he wants to and he is just so likeable when given a chance. Julius and Hynd may have gotten off the wrong foot, but Julius is also a kind person who tries hard and apologizes for his screw - ups.
In essence this book is a nice slow burn romance despite not being that long actually, page wise. I really liked it.
3.75 stars
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